Balrog
Balrog, known as M. Bison (マイク・バイソン, Maiku Baison) in Japan, is a character from the Street Fighter series. He first appeared as a boss character in Street Fighter II. Description Balrog is a tall, heavily built and very muscular African-American boxer. He wears blue boxing trunks with white trim and a torn white shirt under a blue tank top. He wears red boxing gloves and boxing shoes. His hairstyle consists of short hair in what appears to be wide cornrows; this hairstyle is similar to Mike Tyson's haircuts from the time Street Fighter II was released. Official artworks at the time also depicted him sans a canine tooth in the upper right side of his mouth. History Background Rising from a childhood of poverty, Balrog was once a great boxing champion and prize fighter. He was banned from boxing for permanently injuring his opponents and accidentally killing one (as well as his illegal maneuvers, particularly his headbutt), so he joined the Shadaloo criminal organization, and worked his way up from the bottom, eventually becoming M. Bison's chief enforcer. Street Fighter Alpha 3 While running errands for Bison, he killed Dhalsim's elephant with a single Gigaton Punch. In one mission, Balrog was sent to terminate Birdie. Although he did not know why, Balrog went anyway. Birdie told him about the Psycho Drive, and Balrog agreed to help him find it, thinking he could make money from it. When the Psycho Drive exploded, Balrog realized that he had not been paid recently. Super Street Fighter II Turbo When Bison was killed at the hands of Akuma, ownership of Shadaloo was transferred to the former prize fighter. Unfortunately, he ended up running the entire organization into the ground in no time. After the fall of Shadaloo, Balrog was back on the streets, working menial jobs (such as casino security, as seen in his Street Fighter IV intro cutscene). Super Street Fighter IV However, when Bison makes his return with the construction of his new body, Balrog is immediately brought back into the organization, hired by Bison to guard Bison's replacement bodies, which Balrog refers to as "dolls". Balrog is not satisfied with this, however, and forms a new get-rich-quick scheme. He manages to make his way into the S.I.N. building (along with fellow agent Vega). While looking for treasure (possibly anything he could sell), he stumbles across a young, bandaged girl begging for help. Balrog is apathetic, until a mark in the shape of the Shadaloo symbol begins to glow on the child's hand. Realizing the child could hold some valuable secrets, Balrog takes the girl away (saying along the way, " This must be my lucky day!"). However, when he questions the child on what powers she has, the child reveals that by herself, she is powerless; Balrog, disappointed, says the girl is worthless. Nevertheless, Balrog remains optimistic that the girl will be valuable later; he picks the girl up and walks off with her, while the girl's hand glows again. Personality Balrog is self-centered, hot-tempered, arrogant, flippant and sadistic. He is a belligerent pugilist who possesses an insatiable urge for money, and a vicious, bullying mean streak, often refusing to take responsibility for his actions. His main reasons and motivation for joining Shadaloo and M. Bison throughout the Street Fighter series have always been to attain massive wealth, fame and glory so he can be on easy street for life. For that motivation alone, Balrog would cheat, steal or even kill to accomplish this. Honor is something Balrog does not acknowledge. Despite being a once great prize boxer, Balrog has intentionally cheated in his fights whenever he felt like it; he even accidentally killed one of his opponents once. Balrog is also shown to be very unintelligent; when M. Bison was believed to be dead after the events of Street Fighter Alpha 3, the role of leader of the organization fell to him and it collapsed immediately, which forced him to work security at casinos and other places just to get by. Balrog also displays an extreme affinity for women, with Chun-Li being the only exception. Gameplay and fighting style An unskilled but strong boxer, Balrog relies on punching speed and raw strength, giving him strong normal attacks. The majority of his moveset is composed of several variations of dashing punches, including his Super Combos. There is, however, a certain amount of versatility to his moveset; among his punches are uppercuts, smash blows, and overhead swings, which can keep the opponent guessing if used well. As boxers, he and Dudley are the only characters in the Street Fighter series whose movesets are almost entirely comprised of arm-based moves (punches, elbows etc.); their polar opposite is Elena, whose moveset consists solely of leg-based moves (kicks, knees etc.). Balrog will also resort to moves considered illegal in boxing whenever he sees fit. His moveset usually includes a headbutt, and during his second Ultra Combo in Super Street Fighter IV, he grabs and headbutts the opponent, then stomps on their foot - the only time he uses his foot at all in the games - and finally nails them with an elbow shot. Gallery Category:Capcom Characters Category:Street Fighter Characters Category:Arcade Debut Category:All Characters